Recycling the Baby Steriliser 1

A lot of us have equipment in the kitchen which we do not really use to its full potential.  Many pieces of kitchen equipment can be used in other ways too.  In this particular instance I am dealing with baby sterilisers.  People just think that they are for "sterilising baby bottles".  Yes that is what they are marketed at, but take out the word "baby" and you have "sterilising bottles".  When you put things into perspective that is exactly what we need to store preserves long-term on the pantry shelf.  This process is in effect hot water bathing or in England is also known as bottling which is a process which preserves fruit in syrup or tomatoes in the form of pasta sauce.  It works by removing all of the oxygen out of the bottle to make the bottle air-tight.  In the states when jam has been processed and bottled it is then subjected to water bathing to ensure that the longest shelf life is achieved for that particular product.  It works, I have used this in the past and is a step further than we normally do in this country. 

However, when it comes to meat, or vegetables which are classed as foods most likely to succumb to botulism,you really need to "Can" these to make sure that the contents are safe to eat. Basically the food goes into a specialist canner and is processed under high pressure to make sure that the food is safe. Under no circumstances would I hot water bathe these foodstuffs as the temperatures in processing are not high enough to kill off any susceptible food.

Anyway, I digress again.  I use the baby steriliser as a hot water bath for bottling sauces and cordials.  I have mentioned before that I have made cordials and then popped into some of the large bottles available such as Kilner which although well and good are a little tricky to process.  Through use and practicality, I now use HEX bottles, which are an ideal size for a baby sterilizer and quick to process.  It is ideal for the two of us and makes sure that we do not waste anything.  If you are a larger family, I would suggest still using these bottles, but making more in quantity.

Basically, I sterilise my Hex bottles and add the contents to the bottles, put on the lids, and then straight into the baby sterilizer, fill with water and then bring up to boiling.  Start timing from when comes to a boil and process for about 15 to 20 minutes.  You can do syrups, sauces, such as Ketchups, sweet chilli sauce, brown sauce, fruit coulis etc. using this method. Once the bottles are cold, the lids, will be tight like a drum just how a lid goes when you have bottled or canned a jar of fruit.  If it is not either re-process or if you want to be on the safe side use it there and then.

I would also mention that I have two baby sterilizers and both came from a charity shop for next to nothing in price.  This means I can pop them on the worktops and leave them to do their stuff without having the extra paraphernalia of a deep pan on top of the cooker and other cumbersome equipment.  One thing I do is I don't put cold bottles into existing hot water in the steriliser as this can break the bottles and you will end up losing precious preserves.  I take out the bottles and let the hot water cool a little before tipping it out, putting in a fresh amount of cold water and starting the process again.  Better to be safe than sorry.

Bottled Strawberry syrup

Bottled Elderflower cordial

Sterilising bottles

Processing filled bottles

Simplifies the whole process by using the baby steriliser.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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